Hundreds of Free Staters to gather in Nashua for Liberty Forum

By KIMBERLY HOUGHTONUnion Leader Correspondent

NASHUA - Hundreds of people are expected to gather in Nashua this weekend for the New Hampshire Liberty Forum, a four-day event organized by the Free State Project. The sixth annual forum kicked off Thursday with a tour of the State House in Concord, followed by a welcome reception, two seminars and a visit to a local movie theater to watch "Silver Circle."

The conference is designed to promote and educate the public about the Free State Project, whose mission is to relocate thousands of pro-liberty activists to New Hampshire. Organizers are anticipating about 500 attendees this weekend at the Crowne Plaza Hotel for the forum.

"It has developed a reputation for drawing together people of diverse backgrounds from across the Northeast and beyond for the purpose of discussing strategies to reduce government interference in our lives and build a better society through business, the arts and volunteer work," says a release issued by Free State Project members.

The opening ceremony will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Friday, with speaker Jeff Tucker.

Various seminars are scheduled throughout the day, including a Non-political Activism New Hampshire seminar, and a Make Law Not Words presentation.

Friday's keynote speaker is Jack Spirko, who will talk from 8:30 to 10 p.m. about modern survival concepts and philosophy often discussed on his daily web program, "The Survival Podcast."

Several events will continue on Saturday and Sunday as well, including an Alt Expo Eye Opener seminar, a presentation on radical labor and libertarianism, an expo on building a new libertarian community and a seminar titled, "I got to New Hampshire: Now What?"

Saturday's keynote speaker is Tom Woods, a New York Times best selling author of 11 books, who will take the stage at 8:45 p.m.

Liberty Forum is designed to give Free State pledgers who are in the process of moving to the Granite State an opportunity to visit the area, network with others and learn more about job opportunities and housing in the area, said organizers.

According to its website, the Free State Project has 1,130 participants already living in New Hampshire, with more than 13,700 committed to eventually relocating here. Its plan is to entice more than 20,000 pro-liberty activists to move to the Granite State, with participants pledging to "exert the fullest practical effort toward the creation of a society in which the maximum role of civil government is the protection of life, liberty and property," says the site.

A total of 24 speakers will take the stage during the 2013 New Hampshire Liberty Forum, including Libertarian activist Ken Krawchuk, political correspondent Declan McCullagh, policy analyst Julie Borowski, historian Thaddeus Russell and more.

Also attending the forum is author Michael Isenberg, who will be signing copies of his new novel, "Full Asylum," which depicts a future when freedom has nearly disappeared from America.

"I show what America will look like if we continue on the big government path that Barack Obama has set for us," Isenberg said in a statement. "It's a future where cameras in the workplace scan for unhealthy bagged lunches, government creeps arrest tax accountants for finding deductions, and the best way to impress a date is to procure some sugary - and highly illegal - soda."